Ryuko was raised by her father, a gambler named Senzo Yano in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after her mother died when she was little. When she turned 18 years old, her father was attacked and killed by a stranger in alley. Ryuko then dissolves her yakuza family, and, carrying the wallet left by the killer, she sets out on a journey to avenge her father's death. Five years later, she wanders the nation, known only as! Red Peony Oryu who has a red peony tattooed on her shoulder and has the defiance and courage of a man. She meets Katagiri - a loner gambler, Kumatora - boss of a family in Shikoku, and Otaka - female boss of the Doman Family in Osaka. With their help, she finally catches up with the man who murdered her father.
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Reviews
Too much of everything
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Blistering performances.
The Pinky Violence films would go on to become very popular in 1970's Japan, and this film is often seen as something of a precursor to the genre; and it's not really hard to see why, as although I wouldn't call this a 'full' Pinky Violence film - it certainly shares a lot in common with the films that would go on to become very popular in the seventies. The main thing, of course, that ties this film to the Pinky Violence flicks is the female protagonist; a lady loner who goes around with a samurai sword and a pistol looking for revenge on those that killed her father. The film starts in a gambling hall and we watch as our heroine catches a man gambling. Naturally, he's none to happy and after trying to jump her later on; she's saved by a young male swordsman. She later gets in with a local gang who happen to be at war with another over territory. She requests an audience with the boss leader and demands that the two gangs stop warring. Her hunt for her father's killer also continues, and it turns out that the killer may be closer home to than she first realised.A major theme that the film relies on is the idea of its female protagonist being caught in a "man's world" and insisting that she is, in fact, a man. As the genre moved on, the female leads would become more infallible and always superior to the men; but in this film, that's not the case and indeed our heroine even relies on a bit of male help at times. The film is not as over the top, confusing or action packed as some of the later Pinky films and the plot follows a straight narrative that is easy to follow. Anyone going into this film expecting to see a hot chick slice up a load of people with her sword is liable to be disappointed; but there's still plenty of swordplay in the film, and the ending in particular is a highlight on that front. There are plenty of not so savoury characters in the film also but there's also a lot of honour too, which again distances the film from a lot of the later efforts. Overall, I can't say that I am as big a fan of this effort as I am of the likes of the genre on the whole; but this is a film that is certainly worth seeing.
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